Everything available on site: Why Markus Dinkel relies on the Actros L

The truck parking backwards in one of the warehouses. Exactly in Markus Dinkel’s field of vision. He and his employees have their office in the containers right next to the area where the black Actros L 1863 shines in its immaculate paintwork. Hardly any wonder – it was only approved yesterday. Markus Dinkel, however, wants to add something new to the look. The number from the Actros number plate has now been fixed to the rear wall of the cab in silver digits. “We already tried this last week, but the numbers weren't the right size for the position,” said Dinkel, turning back to the desk. His tendency for perfectionism would become clear a few more times over the day.

There are four monitors on his workstation. One screen shows the fleetboard menu, another shows his emails, one shows his employees’ holiday timetable, and another shows all the photos of the company's premises here on the outskirts of Postbauer-Heng outside Nuremberg. Something always needs to be happening in front of Markus Dinkel’s eyes.

Palm trees, chemical toilets, forklifts.

The warehouse’s halls reflect the wide variety of its customers. One contains hundreds of pallets of material from an aggregates manufacturer. The exterior furnishings with palm trees of a local Italian restaurant can be seen opposite. A mechanical engineer's products follow, while a camping supplies specialist also shares the storage space: From caravan awnings to chemical toilets, there is plenty of equipment waiting for the coming season. There's always at least one forklift truck on the go.

The warehouse is also the main focus of the business, with Markus Dinkel generating around 80 percent of turnover on these surface areas. The small fleet of transporters are on top of this. "Some customers like to use the service. We can then react flexibly. And if we're offering this, our image must be perfect," says Dinkel. He knows how demanding his customers are.

Only rarely does a longer trip get planned. “Whether long-haul or short-haul – we want to be en route in the best possible way,” says the 46-year-old. For him, this was also a reason to rely on the Actros L, whose trailer bears the branding of the aggregates manufacturer. “The customer’s image should also be perfect.”

An accident leads to new ways of doing things.

Markus Dinkel’s passion is cars. The two Actros 1863 vehicles aren't alone in testifying to this, guaranteeing as they do a great deal of driving pleasure thanks to the power of their OM 473 6-cylinder in-line engines. “I was able to say 'car' before 'mum' and 'dad',” he says. His father owned a haulage company in the area. In winter, their gritter vehicles provided the surrounding municipalities with additional road salt, while in summer they made deliveries out of the Bavarian Forest. After completing his apprenticeship as a car mechanic, Markus Dinkel moved on to motor sports, further qualifying as a master mechanic and technician, and working for a DTM team, among other things. Then he suffered an accident as a passenger in 2004 in which he lost his right arm. After his recovery, he returned to motor sports for a while – only in order to finally set up his own company. This lets him be closer to his family in the Upper Palatinate.

Markus Dinkel only drives the black Actros L himself. Nothing can stop him from doing this, and particularly not for the next tour – the first one in the Actros L!. It takes him 20 minutes to load the pallets with the stacker batteries with the forklift. Without his blazer of course. He's now wearing a yellow high-visibility jacket and it's obvious which part of his job he particularly enjoys.

Photos and video: Matthias Aletsee